Quote of the week

“[A]lleged supporters of ‘diversity’ are the ones who most insist on national uniformity. It says quite a bit about what people are learning in school that they are terrified at the prospect that their country might actually be organized the way Americans were originally assured it would be. Local self-government was what the American Revolution was fought over, yet we’re told this very principle, and the defense mechanisms necessary to preserve it, are unthinkable.” more… [A very good read, most especially if you are still skeptical of the pro-nullification arguments.]

“In contrast to mainstream macro models, which either do not possess capital at all or at best denote it as a homogenous stock of size “K,” Austrian theory explicitly treats the capital structure of the economy as a complex assortment of different tools, equipment, machinery, inventories, and other goods in process. Much of the Austrian perspective is dependent on this rich view of the economy’s capital structure, and mainstream economists miss out on many of the Austrian insights when they make the ‘convenient’ assumption that the economy has one good.” more… [A nice summary of the Austrian theory of capital and the business cycle.]

“Incredibly, the ruling class has managed to establish a society in which ‘the majority’ demands their rule, capitulates to their authority, and fills their coffers with taxes, bailouts, and loans. Maintaining the status quo is their ultimate objective, and we can see that in today’s headlines.

Regulars

The Bain Report: Articles that Affect You and Your Family (with a Michigan focus)

Amazon Best Sellers:#1 Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand; #2 Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World by Kathy Freston; #3 Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World by Kathy Freston

I read an article this week that explained how various authoritarian governments were stockpiling food in order to avert revolution. Bad part is that if they all do this, food prices rise even more, and perhaps it all becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Senate rejected the bill which would have repealed Obama Care this week. No surprise there. I think the vote was like 51-47 against, or something like that. In any case, this is all political theater. If the House Republicans were serious they’d just starting defunding all of this crap, which they could easily do. “Don’t want to repeal Obama Care? We’re going to simply defund Obama Care and raise you the defunding of the Vice President’s Office. Don’t like that? Fine then we’re going to continue to defund agencies one by one until the Senate and President submit.” To the extent they will not, at the very least, defund Obama Care itself, it proves the fact “repeal” was just a political game, and I’m almost sure it was just a game, but of course, I’d love to be wrong on that one. Time will tell.

The Egypt thing is quite interesting. I’ve been watching that. It’s so hard to know what to believe. I observe one thing though. At the end of WWI, the West cut up what was the Ottoman Empire into what is now Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc. The modern Middle East is the dismembered remains of the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul was their capital.

In the past that part of the world has been unified, either by the Ottomans, the Mongols, the Abbasids, or the Umayyads. For over 1000 years the Middle East has been more or less unified under Islamic rule. It seems that this may be where things are headed once again. The uprising in Egypt may be just the beginning. Pay attention to Turkey. They almost surely consider themselves the rightful rulers of the region.

As many of you know I work from home. We have a three bedroom place, and I keep one of the bedrooms as my office, but it’s been cold so I’ve been working in the kitchen. And when I work I tend to get into a zone and lose track of my surroundings. So I was working the other day, and definitely in the zone. Wonderful Wife was getting ready to go somewhere and Baby Girl was playing, actually wondering around the house as it turns out.

Anyway, for whatever reason I break out of “the zone” and turn around. Well, there’s Baby Girl carrying two dog turds. One in each hand. The dog had pooped on the floor, all over the floor, and Baby Girl had picked some of it up. I couldn’t help but laugh a bit, but what a mess.

On the whole preparedness theme. A friend of mine recommends the “Survival Blog“. I also ran across this list from the Red Cross that lists what the essential ingredients in a first aide kit are. And as far as that goes, I’d like to add both a first aide kit and pet food to my list from last week. I had neglected to mention them.

Okay, that’s it! Liberty Breakfast at the Classic Cup Cafe tomorrow at 8AM. See you there!